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Yuvvraaj lyrics and translation: Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hai

The music to the upcoming film Yuvvraaj (first discussed with trailers here) is A. R. Rahman standard. It is easily among the best of the year, if not the best. Only the Mozart from Madras can kick off a Hindi film soundtrack with a Beethoven symphony (the fifth) featuring the voice of Salman Khan, and later make one rock to an Indian classical piece. Loveleh! Go buy it as soon as you can, you'll be glad you did! More on the music to follow. For now, I hope you enjoy the lyrics and translation to the song Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hai, with vocals by Benny Dayal, Shreya Ghosal, and A. R. Rahman. The lyrics are by Gulzar. You can listen to all songs at this link.

The song will most definitely sound better when placed in the context of the film. It's a brilliant duet, and requires careful listening to appreciate the dialogue exchange between two romantically involved characters, which the song very likely is. Unless it is 'voice' singing a love song and the one being spoken to is music, which could be the case, don't you think?

I really like how it oozes music and references thereof. Beautiful. Katrina Kaif playing the cello (she looks absolutely gorgeous in the trailers) will only add to its beauty. It's very consistent with the theme of the film and its tagline: 'Music binds love'. Also like the reference to traveling through the skies and heavens, which might well be a very deliberate reference to divinity, with the unifier, of course, being 'love'. The reference has been used before in Bollywood in a similar context (perhaps the most popular being Aao Huzoor Tum Ko by Asha Bhosle in Kismat (1968), which had music by O. P. Nayyar). This one is as good as any other.

PS: The album artwork and accompanying songbook with lyrics spell the title of the song as 'Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hain', which is incorrect -- it's 'hai' (singular), not 'hain', e.g. 'ek hai' (one is) versus 'do hain' (two are).

30 comments:

Hi Saurabh: There is no question that A. R. Rahman is in a league of his own, by far the best Bollywood has. I've loved each of his albums this year, and the biggest one (for Ghajini) is coming up! Yay! :)

Salman has a cameo, more in the form of dialogue, but it's still great. The flow of the entire album is brilliant. Hope you enjoy it!

Hi Ravi: I'll hope to discuss the soundtrack sometime next week. Rahman's soundtracks typically get better the more they are listened to, so I figured I could discuss another song (maybe two) in the mean time. There's a new instrument, a new chord, a new inference, a new correlation to other songs, to identify each time. I think this applies most to A. R. Rahman soundtracks. As merely a fan, I don't come close to catching them all (or even the majority), but it is fun listening, to say the least.

Hi Deepa: Great to hear from you, and I'd love to hear what you think of it! Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Saurabh: The Ghajini release is scheduled for December 25. Its first trailer should be out any time now. And its music, I hope, makes it way to us around Diwali...stay tuned! Of course, with an Aamir-Rahman alliance, nothing short of brilliant is expected! :)

Hi Woyg, and welcome! It's a great song, and I think it's perfectly placed in the album. Also, it's been a while since merely a trailer got so many so excited so fast.

I usually dont notice the names of music directors but A. R. Rehman is advertised so much that its kind of hard to miss his name! For me its more a case of oonchi dukaan pheeka pakwaan! I dont think all his soundtracks are super - Jodha-Akbar for e.g. was very boring. Didnt have a period feeling at all the way the Parineeta and Khoya Khoya Chand did. He does have his good moments though - Lagaan for e.g.

Hi Salek: Thank you for stopping by. Good luck with school! I'm sure you've heard this before, but make the most of it while you're there -- life after it can get even more hectic! The elections are less than three weeks away, yay.

I'd be curious to know your thoughts on the other songs in Yuvvraaj after a few repeated listens. Some of Rahman's songs just sound better the more I listen to it -- Shano was a perfect example of it this time around. And Tu Muskura is beautiful, one of its musical pieces is now my phone ring tone :)

Hi Bollyviewer: Glad you liked them! I think they'll be great in the film too, and I can sense my peak of inflated expectations being reached already, LOL.

I didn't think Jodhaa Akbar was a superb soundtrack, agreed. It fit in well in the film, though. Did you think Parineeta and Khoya Khoya Chaand being based in the twentieth century had anything to do with it (just thinking out loud, I don't feel strongly either way)?

In addition to the Lagaan soundtrack (the first lot of songs was rejected by Aamir, which I thought was bold), I really liked the soundtracks to Mangal Pandey, Earth, and Water. Have you had a chance to listen to them?

I am sure the twentieth century setting had a great deal to do with the period feel in Parineeta and Khoya Khoya Chand - the music director could listen to real music from those days and recreate something like that. But surely a similar period polish could have been given to Jodhaa Akbar too. Lagaan music wasnt very period either, but it was so rhythmic and beautiful that it didnt matter. Plus I loved the sound-track before I even saw the film! J-A's soundtrack was fine in the movie but I would never listen to it otherwise.

I loved the soundtrack of Earth but havent heard Mangal Pandey. Dont remember the soundtrack from Water at all - will check it out again.

I agree with you on the music to Lagaan. One of the goals with it, they said, was to make it sound appealing to everyone, which inherently meant not aiming for an entirely 1890-ish soundtrack which might have restricted its appeal.

Hi ! Thank you for your translation and your explanations, it makes me love this song even more !You mentioned in another post 'Yuvraaj' meant 'Prince', then does it mean adding another 'v' change its meaning ?(Please excuse my english if there are any mistakes, even in such a short post. I hope it's still understandable)

Hi Naina: Thank you for your comment! Glad you found this of some use.

My understanding is that the title was changed from the initial 'Yuvraaj' to 'Yuvvraaj' with the additional 'v' because of numerological leanings. I am not aware of another meaning for this alternate spelling (might be wrong there), but I think given the plot and the most widely held view of the term, the meaning 'prince' is retained.

Filmmakers are known to change spellings to movie titles. (Even singer Sonu Nigam recently did that to *his* name, he's Sonu Niigaam now.) So I'm guessing this is another example of that.

hi bollywoodfan, ur translations are in fact awsum and a great soundtrack from the maestro himself,rahman. not too sure how this soundtrack compares to the ones of this year or any rahman soundtrack for that matter, but comparing one rahman to another is futile. i most certainly am eagerly waiting for a music review to be posted on here soon. however i just need to clarify something u said earlier. this is definetly not the first time gulzar and rahman are working togther. infact they worked together no several moviews including saathiya and dil se to name a few. it is , howver the first itme that ghai and gulzar have worked together. keep up the good work

Hi Anonymous: Thank you for your comment. It is a great soundtrack, and I agree that comparing one Rahman soundtrack to another only speaks to his greatness.

You are indeed correct about Gulzar and Rahman having worked together before (doh!). I should have paid more attention when writing my comment -- as you say, it is Ghai's first collaboration with Gulzar.

Hi,I just want to say thank you so much for your clear and thorough and well-explained translation of this song! I'm learning Hindi, and I just got the Yuvvraaj soundtrack for Christmas, and I love learning it through songs. Your translation was super helpful so thank you so much!!

Also, I can't wait to see 3 Idiots. And I'd never heard of Rang De Basanti but it's in your favorites and you seem to have excellent taste (plus, I love Aamir Khan so much) so I'll be sure to check it out!

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